Italy Bans DeepSeek But Banning AI Model is Harder Than You Think

Italy remains firm on their ‘no-nonsense’ agenda. You will not find DeepSeek AI chatbot on Apple’s App Store and Google Store in Italy.

How does it go from popularity to banning?

The Italian DPA was acting based on a complaint filed by consumer coalition group Euroconsumers over DeepSeek’s personal data handling practices. DeepSeek has been given 20 days to respond as the watchdog is investigating DeepSeek’s storage of user data on servers in China, which violates Euroconsumers data protection laws.

What is the actual issue behind?

Data privacy: User data is stored in China, raising fears of government access.
Cybersecurity: Nation’s safety above all technology. The U.S. Navy has warned its personnel against using DeepSeek for both work and personal use to prevent any kind of Cybercrime.
Biasness: DeepSeek with its open source and free of cost agenda can be manipulated and censored to give biased information.

Nation’s safety and security above all

U.S suspects DeepSeek’s AI model was trained using U.S. AI models (like ChatGPT) through a technique called “distillation” . Distillation is a process where a newer AI model learns from an existing, more powerful AI model. It provides an edge to developers so that they can transfer knowledge without investing a single penny in expensive computing resources. The U.S government consistently evaluates that it might have a harmful effect to national security as well as AI dominance.

Is it really banned in Italy?

The DeepSeek app is blocked, but Italy users can still download its open-source model and run it locally. They can also access it via Perplexity (third-party platform) which hosts it on servers in the U.S and EU. (outside of china)

Why Banning DeepSeek is difficult?

Banning Deepseek is difficult because of the following reasons:

AI distillation: It’s Hard to detect when data is extracted from AI models like ChatGPT.
Open-source models can be downloaded freely (that makes their enforcement difficult)

What are Netizens saying?

“It Seems DeepSeek is getting blocked in Italy. Remember they also blocked ChatGPT as well in the beginning for a short amount. Will this trend continue or is this a nothing burger”. – Dominik Filkus on his recent tweet on X.

Is there any solution?

Well, of now. Blocking all Chinese IP addresses can be an instant solution. (But you never know) users could still find ways to bypass these restrictions. Italy. U.S. or another country on their way to go against DeepSeek. DeepSeek app removal is never the ‘ultimate’ solution. Proper guidelines and law enforcement can be.

Will DeepSeek be able to tackle challenges like these? Stay Tune to learn more!

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Zoha Imdad Ali

https://www.staging.techi.com/

Zoha is a writer and tech enthusiast who creates content to inform, inspire, and engage diverse audiences. She focuses on the interplay between technology and society, providing clear insights to spark meaningful discussions and foster community connections.